We said the Lord's Prayer together, using the language we are most familiar with, an equally impressive example of speaking in tongues in the fellowship of the Spirit.
Last night at Aberdeen airport we welcomed a family of a mum and two children, being reunited after 3 years with husband and dad, who had come over to our country in a small boat, was dispersed to Aberdeen, and has navigated the asylum process over the two years he has been in our country. The tears of joy, the embraces of human beings who love each other and belong together, the struggle to survive and find freedom to live – yes, all of that. And that is only one story from one of the crowd of men who join us for worship every week.
The photo is of the rose window at the front of the church. As I looked around at the multi-coloured gathering of people from so many places in our world, I look at that window and its geometry, and think of the geometry of compassion, the intersecting lines of life that bring us into contact with God knows whom.
I mean it, God knows who we are and God knows why, in all the possibilities of a human life, we should now meet these people, and they meet us. The harmonies of difference, the possibilities of welcome, the meeting of eyes recognising a common humanity, the shaking of hands and the learning of names, the hearing of stories, and so the beginnings of friendships.
The geometry of compassion is that way of seeking understanding without calculation, of looking for and finding that love and generosity and the gift of time are the most important answers to the problems set for others by the circumstances of their lives. To be part of the answer to someone else's prayer, is to be in cahoots with God. And that's always a risk worth taking
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